Safety in a storm
by Princess Hyuuga
Summary: After training a storm strands Neji and Tenten at Tenten's house...strange things happen. R&R. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: Not my players, just my playground.  
I don't own Naruto... Why do you think this is a FANfiction?

Safety in a Storm

Tenten lay panting on the ground leaning against a tree. She took a deep breath and stood up. "Neji, we've been training for almost six hours without a break. There's a storm approaching, can we please go home?"

Neji was leaning against a tree nearby. He looked up and saw that she was right. He didn't want to go home to Hinata mad at him for coming home late and soaked. (AN/ They're not together they're cousins and live together so Neji can "Protect" Hinata.)"Sure, but Tenten?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Could I come to your apartment for a while? It looks like it's about to storm any minute and I don't think I can make it home without getting soaked." He lied, but he didn't feel like telling Tenten about Hinata's secret wrath.

"Sure, I'd be happy to have some company" Not only that but she was secretly terrified of storms. She gathered her weapons and put them back into their respective pouches and poofed the others back into their scrolls.

While she was doing that, Neji got a very good view of her ass. His eyes widened a hair every time she bent over to pick up a kuni, shuriken or katana.

When she was finished she turned and walked to Neji. She grabbed his hand, trying to hold in a severe blush threatening to work it's way up her face and not noticing the slight pink tinge on her crush's face. They began to run when the rain started to fall and they got soaked. Neji allowed himself to be lead to Tenten's apartment because if he followed her just right he could get a very nice view of her ass (not that he was looking… he most definitely was not looking).

He stopped when they reached the door. She let go of his hand only long enough to unlock and open the door before she grabbed his hand again and dragged him into her apartment. She closed the door with her unoccupied hand and turned back around.

Neji cleared his throat trying to get her attention long enough to tell her that she still had hold of his hand. She looked at him and he looked down at their intertwined hands. She let go reluctantly, wishing they could've done otherwise. Little did she know he felt empty inside when her hand left his.

She went over to a closet down the hall and grabbed two dark blue towels. She handed one to Neji and then undid her buns, letting her medium length brown hair fall to about the bottom of her shoulder blades. This was the first time Neji had seen her with her hair down.  
She began to dry her hair with her towel and watched as Neji pulled out his hair-tie from his long hair. He dried his hair and put the damp towel around his neck.  
Just then a bolt of lightning lit up the Konoha sky followed by a loud crack of thunder.   
The power flickered of, on and then went off for good. Neji felt something cling to his arm and noticed that it was Tenten. "Afraid of storms?" Tenten only nodded and buried her face in his chest, blushing furiously. He wrapped an arm around her and led her to the couch.  
They sat down and Neji got up to go get a candle or something but when he tried to pull away she just clung tighter to him. He smirked and held her tighter.  
For a while they just sat there like that.

Tenten clinging to Neji's damp shirt as if it were her lifeline and Neji with protective arms around her waist. As another bolt of lightning shot through the sky, Tenten squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Neji even tighter.

He ran his hand over her hair and whispered in her ear, "Why are you so scared?" She didn't answer at first but he soon felt her crying into his already damp shirt. She wiped her tears and sat back a little unwrapping her hands from his shirt. He didn't let go of her though.

"When I was little… I think four years old, my parents were killed on a mission. The night that I was told there was a thunderstorm. My mom always used to hold me during a storm she told me once that she would protect me… she promised. I used to think she was my safety in a storm. I then realized she's dead; she's never going to be here to comfort me again. I was so scared that night. I cried myself to sleep. I've always been scared of storms. But when my mom died, I thought I was completely alone and that since she was gone the storm could hurt me, like it couldn't when she would hold me."

She was crying again now. Neji understood how it felt to lose a parent, how it felt to feel completely alone. He pulled her to him so that she was on his lap. His arms were still wrapped around her waist to comfort her. He laid back so that she was lying on his chest. He pulled a light green blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over both of them. All that crying had made Tenten sleepy.

The last thing she heard before falling asleep was Neji whispering "I'll protect you… I promise" She smiled and whispered back "My safety in a storm." And with that they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

AN/ Here is a little epilogue thing for those who want to read it.

The next morning Tenten awoke with her head lying on Neji's chest. She smiled and remembered the events that occurred last night (Not like that you sickos.) She smiled and looked out to her balcony. She noticed that the storm was over and the skies were clear.

She looked at Neji when she felt him shift underneath her. He looked up at her and smiled. She said, "That's the first time I've slept through a storm since my parents died." He smiled again "I guess you felt safe right?" She just nodded. They got up and pointed to the bathroom when Neji asked.

A few minutes later he came back out and it was Tenten's turn. She went in to fix her hair that during the night had come out. She didn't put it back up in its usual bun though, she decided to leave it down.

She came back out of the bathroom and they looked at the clock. It was 11:30 AM. Neji decided that he should probably get back to his apartment so Hinata didn't worry. (Again, they're not together.)

He grabbed his jacket and put it on. He asked "Training grounds, 2 o-clock?" She just smiled and said "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

As he walked out the door he turned and quickly, before she even knew what he was doing, gave her a quick kiss on her lips. He then turned and rushed out of the building. All she could do was stand there shocked and then smile.

She walked over to her balcony and looked down, watching him leave until he was but a speck. She then looked up towards the bright blue sky. She thought to herself 'I hope it storms again soon… very soon.'

From then on Tenten was never afraid of thunderstorms, ever again. 


End file.
